Volunteer Appreciation 2022

GiGi’s Playhouse Westchester loves our Volunteers! We cannot do what we do without the enthusiasm, dedication, generosity, and motivation of our outstanding volunteer team.

Susie is our wonderful Ballet teacher – thank you for teaching us ballet and jazz.

Since 2021, we have welcomed 168 new volunteer applications to our Playhouse and we have a total of 112 active volunteers, many of who have been with us for some time. Our new volunteers come from various sections of the community. We have high school students who have chosen us to complete community service projects, college students completing fieldwork and internships, and adult members of the community who found us on the internet and our mission resonated with them.

Firstly, we want to acknowledge how grateful we are to Westchester’s fantastic Board of Directors: Jennifer Cook, Gwyneth Meeks, Laura Dolan, Sharon Fanelli, Eden Anker, Terrence Moduthagam, Marybeth Schulze, Kelly Moravec, Tanvi Girinath, and Sandra Recinos.

Over the past year, they have been instrumental in organizing our Gala, onboarding a new staff member, planning our GFAC 2022 event, covering programs, and steering our Playhouse towards success. A tremendous thank you for everything you do for GiGi’s Playhouse Westchester. We appreciate the leadership and commitment you show each day.

Each year, we welcome many high school students from neighboring school districts who wish to volunteer with us to complete their community service requirements. Several of them have committed to training and becoming tutors for our 1-1 programs. One of our teen volunteers, Juliana, has been a math tutor for two sessions and made a significant impact on her students. Juliana began her teaching experience by tutoring virtually. While some have found it challenging to make a connection over Zoom, Juliana has made every session fun, engaging, and purposeful for her students throughout the sessions. Thank you for your time and passion, Juliana.

Juliana with Samantha and Viola during one of our Gratitude Committee Programs.

Recently, we have welcomed two consistent volunteers to our virtual Teen Tastic program: Eve and Hannah. They have both been splendid additions to this program. These ladies are enthusiastic, kind, and patient members of our community. It is lovely to watch the relationships develop over a virtual platform and witness the amount of fun this energetic group has during Teen Tastic.

Hannah’s mother contacted us to thank us for allowing Hannah to be a part of this program. “Hannah explained to her brothers why she loved being a part of the program. She said it felt like an everyday opportunity to connect with people she otherwise would not overlap with. That they have so much fun together, regardless of individual personalities, mainly because the process of identifying shared interests and commonality becomes the focus. We are grateful that you have allowed her this invaluable life experience.”

Screenshot of our fun and engaging Teen Tastic program.

We want to say a big thank you to Hannah and Eve for giving up their time to hang out with us. I know all our teens have so much fun on a Tuesday afternoon!

Pam and Laura tutoring at the Playhouse.

Pamela joined us early this year and was very eager to become a literacy tutor during our Spring Session. She was enthusiastic to begin her training and completed it quickly. Pamela has been tutoring two adult students this session and always finds delightful ways to keep them engaged. From the beginning, Pam brought her guitar along to sing the phonic songs and allowed her students to play the songs too. Thank you for everything you do, Pam!

At GiGi’s Playhouse Westchester, we have a vast dedicated volunteer team. I wanted to acknowledge everyone individually, but this blog would be pages and pages long. Thank you to everyone that leads a program, fundraises, and tutors our participants. We are grateful for each person who shares our social media posts, donates items from our Wish list, and all those who are moving for acceptance this May.

GiGiFIT Toddler – Steven with Mia and Kaylie

We appreciate your support as it allows us to offer our free and purposeful programs.

Core Volunteers and Tutors: Eden Anker, Dani Alpert, April Shiau, Brianna Infante, Zayda Carreto, Justin Levin, Patrick Greatrex, Elyse Hilton, Jade Blatter, Allison Dortilus, Maria Dominguez, Pamela Kohring, Tara Larson, Olivia Lovejoy, Sofia Sahib, Hannah Schults, Paulina Ram, Shernaz Patel, Paul Ippolito, Katie Cardiff, Dana Tyrie, Meghan Zadorsky, William Bornmann, and Jordan Ellenberg.

Program Leaders: Carolyn Frost, Sarah Moore, Lolita Jones, Diya Shadaksharappa, Jordan Barnett, Kelly Moravec, Tanvi Girinath, Carol Altomare, Steven Shifren, Susie McCloskey, Carter Appleyard, Kathy Higgins, Barbara Nuccio, Patti Colombo, Kathy Canter, and Maria Neithardt.

New and Program Volunteers: Susanna Audi, Carson Beida, Patty Gair, Sammy Glusky, Max Gressin, Ava Silver, Isabela Hesquijarosa, and Sydney Zendel.

Thank you to the volunteers from Bain & Company and Bake Back America for wonderful holiday celebrations this year.

Are you interested in joining the best Volunteer Team in Westchester? Please complete this Volunteer Application form. Our team cannot wait to connect with you to start you on your volunteer journey.

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